Inclined shaft mucking machine



Jan. 16, 1951 T. M. TAPPER 2,538,711

INCLINED SHAFT MUCKING MACHINE Filed June 16, 1948 '5 Sheets-Sheet 1 WENTOR. fizmmv/Y hpper A'I'TCI R N EYS Jan. 16, 1951 'r. M. TAPPER INCLINED SHAFT MUCKING MACHINE Filed June 16, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 \m mw. w mw wm o. |M M f (IAYVENTOR. 1 /fiamaJ'/'Z fay al" Jan. 16, 1951 T. M. TAPPER 2,538,711

INCLINED SHAFT MUCKING MACHINE Filed June 16, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 J0 'w/JUTIP 2 ATTU R N EYS Patented Jan. 16, 1951 UNITD STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,538,711 INCLINED SHAFT MUCKING MACHINE Thomas M. Tapper, Smelterville,1daho Application June 16, 1948, Serial No. 33,301

My present invention relates-tothe general class of excavators or motor operated and portable implements for handling articles and materials, and more specifically to an improved inclined shaft mucking machine of the grab and hoist type having a horizontal load support swiveled on a vertical axis and carrying a laterally swinging boom that is also journaled on a horizontal axis of the support, together with a shovel or scoop of the clam-shell type, and operating mechanisms that are manually controlled by an operator riding on the implement or carriage.

As herein illustrated the invention is embodied in a Wheeled truck, machine, or carriage that is adapted to roll on a pair of inclined track-rails, and while suitable for various diiierent purposes and uses, the implement is especially designed for removing muck, such as broken rock, rubbish, dirt or other loose materials from the bottom of a mine shaft and loading the material into railway cars or other carriers for transportation to a suitable dump.

In one mode of operation when working on an inclined railway, as in a mine shaft, a winze, or

other earth-opening, the portable implement may.

beanchored at its rear end by a cableway and winch to supporting timbers, and under control of the operator the implement is lowered by gravity to loading position. Ihe shovel is manipulated to grab a load and then the implement is pulled up or elevated by the cableway to a desired height where the shovel is dumped.

Or, as hereinafter described and illustrated, the implement may be anchored on its inclined railway, and operated to shovel the material into a cable-operated skip, carrier, or mine-car rolling on a railway alongside the inclined railway of the implement.

In carrying out my invention a minimum number of parts are employed which may with facility be manufactured at low cost of production, and the parts may be assembled with convenience to provide a loading machine of this character that is easily controlled by an operator riding on the machine, and the controlled parts co-operate to insure a durable, quick-acting machine for performin the desired functions.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be described and more particularly set'forthin the appended claims. 7 I

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a complete example of a physical embodiment of my invention in" which the parts are 3 Claims. (01. 214-103) 2 combined and arranged in accord with one mode I have devised for the practical application of the principles of the invention, It will however be understood that changes and alterations are contemplated and may be made in these exemplifying drawings and mechanical structures, within the scope of my appended claims, without departing from the principles of the invention.

Figure l is a view in side elevation disclosing an implement in which my invention is physically embodied, and working on an inclined railway.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the implement, showing by dotted lines a railway and a carrier thereon in position to be loaded from the implement.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view at line 33 of Fig. l.

, Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the clamshell type of shovel or bucket, showing part of the boom and the actuators for the hinged sections of the bucket or shovel.

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectional view through the truck or carriage, with operating parts in side elevation.

The railway carriage or truck includes a rectangular, low-down bed .I or fabricated frame, here shown as mounted upon six wheels 2 journaled in suitable bearings that roll on the rails 3 of a track, and the implement is anchored by a cable 4 coupled at 5 to the rear end of the carriage frame. The cable for raising and lower- .ing the carriage passes over suitably located sheaves as 6, some of which are journaled on stationary supports, as a frame-work, and from the anchoring support the cable extends to and is wound upon a winch or tugger I journaled at the rear end of the carriage, provided with the usual braking mechanism, and under control of the operator who occupies the seat S, located at an advantageous point near the rear of the carriage or truck, and mounted upon a deck D.

At the front end of the truck a circular base plate 8 is bolted upon the top of the main frame, and aswivel head as a whole is mounted on the base plate to turn or oscillate on a vertical axis, the swivel" head being retained and guided inits movements by means of a flange in usual manner. The swivel head includes a circular turn table 9 mounted to glide over the top of the base plate 8, and the retaining guide flange I0 is bolted to the turn table for co-action with the base plate.

The swivel head or turn table is equipped with a pair of laterally spaced bearing plates II and I2 having lateral braces l3, and between the .tered within the housing 25. controls mechanism within the housing for the 3 bearing plates a boom M, in the shape of an I-beam is pivoted or journaled by bearings 15 upon a transversely extending aXl-e or shaft i6 mounted in the bearing plates H and i2 and retained against displacement by suitable means as cotter pins 11.

The swivel head, with the boom, is adapted to turn or oscillate on the circular base, and for this purpose an air motor 18 having a reciprocable piston rod I9 is mounted at the rear end of the machine, and the outer end of the rod is clamped at 23 to an endless cable 25 that passes around laterally spaced sheaves and thence around a double flanged collar 23 mounted rigidly on the exterior periphery of the turn table or swivel head. A control lever 25 for the air motor I8 is mounted in a housingifi together with control mechanism, and the housing is located adjacent the operators seat S where the lever is readily accessible for manipulating the swivel head.

The pivoted boom is is swung on its journal bearings and axle EE by power from a second air motor 21' mounted on and carried by the turn table or swivel head 2 between the two frame plates or bearing plates H and i2, and the reciprocating piston rod 28 of the motor has a cable 29 attached thereto that passes under sheave 38 and up to a link 35, which is coupled at 32 to the rear end of the boom in order that this year end may perform functions of a short'arm of a lever in the pivotal movement of the boom.

I'he forward end of the boom that forms a long lever-arm is equipped with a sectional scoop or clam-shell shovel including two complementary sections 33 and 34 that are hinged at 35 upon a cross-headfifi fastened at the free end of the "boom; and the sections of this grab shovel are adapted to be opened for picking up a load, and then closed for transferring the load to a carrier. In Fig. 2 the carrier is designated as C by dotted lines, and this wheeled carrier rolls on track rails T, being propelled by a pull cable P.

The sections of the shovel are opened and closed by means of a reciprocable operating rod @lrmounted beneath the boom and slidable in'an angle bracket 38 bolted against the lower face of theboom near its free end. Between the supporting bracket and the shovel the rod terminates in a head Eiito which a pair of links as and 4! are pivoted and the outer ends of the links are pivoted vat' i2 on brackets 43 rigid with the respective sections 33 and 3 of the shovel.

ihe reciprocable operating rod for the shovel is activated by power from a third, double-acting air motor 44 mounted between the bearing plates H ,and l2, and for this purpose the piston rod 45 f the motor is operatively connected to the operating rod by linkage as 46.

The various motors are supplied with air under pressure from a suitable compressor, through .equipment including air pipes 47 and flexible hose '48 mountedon the truck or carriage, and cen- A hand lever 49 boom-motor 2?, and another hand lever i! controls mechanism in the housing for the motor 44 that operates the shovel sections, while a foot I pedal 5| controls mechanism within the housing for the winch 1'! and its brake mechanism in the 4 in positions readily accessible to the operator sitting in the seat S, and other equipment necessary for smooth working of the implement are utilized though not shown in the drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an inclined shaft mucking machine of the gravity lowered railway-truck type including a swiveled head and fluid-pressure operating means therefor, and a shovel-boom pivoted on the swivel head and fluid pressure operated means for operating the shovel-boom, the combination of a cable-propulsion mechanism including a lifting cable having a stationary support and attached to the railway truck, a rotary winch mounted'on the truck, a fluid-pressure operated motor for operating the cable-propulsion mechanism, and manually operated means mounted on the truck for controlling the last mentioned motor.

2. In a portable excavating machine of the type described, the combination with a wheeled truck having a swivel-base, a turn table operatively mounted to swivel on the base, and fluidpressure operated'means for actuating the turn table, of a shovel-boom pivotally mounted on the turn table, fluid-pressure operated means for rocking the boom on its pivotal support, a

cable-propulsion mechanism including a lifting cable having a stationary support and attached to the machine, a rotary winch mounted on the machine, a fluid-pressure operated motor for operating the cable-propulsion mechanism and separate manually operated means for controlling the movements of the turn table and the boom.

3. In a portable excavating machine as described, the combination with a turn table and operating means therefor, a boom pivotally mounted on the turntable and operating means therefor, of a shovel of the clam-shell type hinged on the boom, a shovel-operating rod mounted on the boom'and connected by linkage to the shovel, motor-operated mechanism for reciprocating the operating rod, manually operated means for controlling the motor-operated'mechanism and a cable propulsion mechanism including a lifting cable having a-stationary support attached to the machine.

THOMAS M. TAPPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 806,511 Arnold Dec. 5, 1905 1,307,009 Joy June'l'l, 1919 1,328,487 Billings Jan. 20, 1920 1,389,421 Corrigan Aug. 30, 1921 1,603,573 Baker Oct. 19, 1926 1,773,478 Dovel Aug. 19, 1930 1,808,224 I-Iolmes June 2, 1931 2,071,905 Smith Feb. 23, 1937 2,346,471 Colovich Apr. 11, 1944 2,409,752 Goodwin Oct. 22, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 717,474 France Oct. 20, 1931 

